Egyptian Art
“No limit may be set to art, neither is there any craftsman Pre-reading tasks: 1. What items do you usually associate the art of ancient Egyptians with? 2. What was frequently depicted in pictures and drawings in ancient Egypt?
The art of the Egyptians reflects every aspect of their lives. Depicted in tomb and temple drawings are scenes of everyday living, models of people and animals, glass figures and containers, and jewelry made from fold and semi-precious stones.
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The wall and pillar drawings are perhaps the best known. In these drawings, it can be seen that people are going about the everyday business of baking, fishing, boating, marketing, meeting together in family groups. Such drawings were also used to help the deceased to live forever by giving them all of the instructions they would need as they met the gods on their way to eternal life. The good deeds were recorded and the art that surrounded their mummified body was to help their spiritual self in solving the problems related to life after death. Pictures of food, clothing, servants, and slaves could be used by the deceased just as the real things were used by the person when living. The role of visual art was vital for people of Ancient Egypt as the pictorial representation was not only a means to convey an idea, but also an end that could materialize and function on the recitation of a magic spell. This visual “language” was part of the culture of Ancient Egypt as the vast majority of the population was illiterate. Those who grew up in this culture had no difficulty in understanding the works of art even if they expressed abstract ideas. The primary effect of a scene was on intellect of the viewer. Its message had to be clear.
